


The Last Person on Earth (version B)

by bluebellsandcocklesshells



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff to Angst, M/M, mechanic!Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 08:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6747013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebellsandcocklesshells/pseuds/bluebellsandcocklesshells





	The Last Person on Earth (version B)

“No, no way.  Dean Winchester is the last person on Earth I will ever call for help.”

Castiel crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his friends.

“Come on, Cas,” Balthazar whined.  “It’s freezing out here.”

“And we’re already running late,” Hannah reminded him.

“I know he’s a dick,” Gabriel tried to commiserate, “but it’s not like the break up was _that_ bad.”

Castiel squinted even more balefully at his brother than he did his friends.  Gabriel’s girlfriend, Kali, was huddling under his arm and pantomiming for Cas to make the call.

“What are the odds he’s even working right now?” Samandriel asked.

“The odds?” Cas asked, voice pitching high.  “Really low, you know?  He works days, not nights.  And he doesn’t work weekends because he needs his free time to ‘cruise the bars.’  So the odds of him working on a Saturday night are pretty much non-existent.  Plus, he doesn’t make tow truck runs; he just works at the garage.  And he doesn’t answer phones, which means even if he’s there I can still request someone else if the person doesn’t already know that he shouldn’t send Dean.”

“So what’s the problem?” Gabriel asked.  “Call Singer’s.”

“No!  Because if I call right now, I guarantee you that he will be working, he will answer the phone, and he’ll be the only one available to drive the tow truck out here.  I won’t do it.”

“There is literally no one else to call for a hundred miles!” Hannah said, teeth chattering.  She was standing close to the broken down van, trying to absorb any residual heat it was giving off.  “I have AAA, but it will take them over an hour to get here.  Singer’s is like ten minutes from here.”

Cas pursed his lips and shook his head.  “No.”

Everyone let out loud, whining complaints, but Cas was unmoved.

“Um, I’m a little confused,” Charlie finally spoke up.  “What am I missing?  Who is Dean?”

Cas had met Charlie in grad school a couple of years ago.  He had run across her having a rough time chasing her notes around a park square in the blustery Kansas wind.  After helping her collect all her notes and providing a Band-Aid for her injured finger, she had punched him on the shoulder and declared them to be best friends.  They kind of had been ever since.

Best friend status notwithstanding, he had not filled her in on his former college boyfriend.

“Dean is probably the hottest guy Cas ever has and ever will date,” Balthazar said.

“Thanks,” Cas said sarcastically.

“It’s not an insult, darling.  He’s just that attractive.”

“Mmm,” Hannah and Kali hummed appreciatively.

Cas shot them a nasty glare.

“Yes, Dean and Cassie used to date,” Gabriel said.  “They broke up and now he’s being a brat and making us freeze to death rather than strapping on a pair and calling the company he works for even though he’s probably not even on duty tonight.”

“You guys are acting like he’s just some ex.  You know what he did!”

“What did he do?” Charlie asked.

“He told Cas that he loved him,” Gabriel said with a derisive look sent in Cas’ direction.

“You broke up with a guy for telling you that he loved you?” Charlie asked.

“No, that’s not why we broke up.  We broke up because he…I don’t want to talk about it.  And I’m not calling Singer’s.  Hannah, get out your AAA card.”

“For Krishna’s sake,” Kali muttered pulling out her phone.  “If you won’t call them, I will.”

Cas couldn’t stop her from doing what she wanted, so he just scuffed his toe in the dirt and avoided Charlie’s curious look.

Gabriel and Kali argued about the best way to look up the number—through the web or the map app—but eventually they got the number they needed.  Kali shoved the phone at Cas.

“It’s ringing.”

Cas put his hands up and stepped back.  “I’m not answering it!”

“My hands are cold! I want to put them back in my pockets!”

Cas gaped at her and then glanced around at his group of friends; they all shoved their hands in their pockets.  Assholes.

“Fine,” he growled.

Kali hit the speaker button and handed him the phone with a smile.  The sound of the outgoing dial tone rang again, and then someone picked up.

“This is Singer’s Auto Shop.  What can I do for you?”

Cas felt himself crumbling under the weight of impossible statistics.  Dean Winchester was working on a Saturday night and answering the phones.

“Um, et-hmm.  Hello.”

He could see Charlie look at him weirdly as he tried to change his voice by making it higher.  Samandriel mouthed, “That’s Dean,” at her.  She nodded in comprehension.  Castiel turned his back on his friends, and they all shuffled around to keep his face in their sights.

“Um, my vehicle has broken down on Route 81, just past mile marker 37.”

“Do you need a tow?”

“Um.  Probably not.  We probably just need a jump—”

“There is smoke coming out of the engine!” Balthazar yelled.

Cas turned and hushed him with a wildly flailing arm.

“Sounds like you need a tow to the shop.  We’re really close to where you are.  It’d be best if we brought it in to get it fixed up.”

“Um, sure.  It’s just that it’s a van.  And there are seven us.  I don’t think we’d all fit in the tow truck.  So, we can call a cab and just leave the car until the morning.”

Everyone hissed at him.

“Eh, it’s no big deal.  We’ve got a new truck that has a double cab.  As long you guys don’t mind getting cozy for ten minutes or so, we should make it back with no problem.

Everyone sent Cas a thumbs up and then stuck their hands back in their pockets.

“Okay then.  I guess you’re going to send someone…”

“I’ll come get you.  No one else is working tonight.  Everyone else was lucky enough to get tickets to the Royals game.”

“Where we should be,” Samandriel grumbled.

“Oh-okay then.  We’ll…be here.”

“Alright then.  See you in ten, Cas.”

Dean hung up and everyone tittered behind Cas.

“He recognized his voice!” Hannah said in a loud whisper.

“This is going to be hilarious,” Gabriel said with absolutely no pity.

Castiel turned on him.  “I’m so glad my misery is amusing to you.  To all of you.  Do you guys even care how awkward and—and painful this is going to be for me?”

Everyone looked down at the ground, showing a semblance of remorse.

“Cas,” Charlie said, “what did he do?”

“Nothing,” he muttered.  “It doesn’t matter.  It’s in the past.  He’s going to tow the van, get it running, and hopefully we’ll make it to the game before the end of the National Anthem.”

The girls and Samandriel got into the van to wait and Castiel tried not to pace anxiously along the side of the road.  Balthazar and Gabriel watched him, but didn’t say anything.  Soon, way too soon, a pair of large, very bright headlights could be seen driving down the lonely stretch of highway toward them.  Cas thought he was going to be sick.  He turned and put a hand on his stomach.

“My friend, if you’re going to hurl, do it over there,” Balthazar said.  “These shoes are Italian leather.”

“Who wears Italian leather to a baseball game?” Gabriel asked.

“Someone who needs some form of sophistication near him as he sits amongst a bunch of hot dog eating-beer guzzling-insult slinging-pot bellied miscreants,” he replied.

“Miscreants?” Cas asked, his discomfort easing slightly with his amusement.  “Why did you agree to come?”

“Your friend, Charlie, intrigues me.”

“My friend, Charlie, is a lesbian.”

“Ah.  Did not know that.”

Everyone piled out of the car when they saw the truck get close.  The truck drove past them in order to turn around, and it took a serious two-point turn to do it.  As promised, it was a large truck.  It drove past the van, pulled onto the shoulder, and then backed up close enough for the hooks to be in range.

The door to the truck cab opened and Cas wished for Dean to have gotten fat.  To have developed a bad rash that covered his entire face.  To have been in a devastating accident that left him disfigured.

Dean Winchester stepped out of the truck in his heavy boots and worn jeans and black T-shirt and green plaid over shirt and his stupid face which had a suggestion of a beard that highlighted exactly how much he’d still been a boy in college and was now a twenty-five year old _man_.  Cas would have been ashamed to admit that he went a little weak in the knees, but it seemed like the whole party did—including his straight brother and gay best friend.

“Evening,” Dean said, the barest hint of a Kansas drawl in his voice.  “I hear you guys are having a little car trouble.”

“Cas’ van broke down on us,” Samandriel said and Cas gave him a side-eyed glare.

“That POS Continental didn’t teach you anything?” Dean asked with a chuckle.

“That car was not a POS.  It wasn’t any older than your stupid Impala.”

“Easy,” Dean chided.  “I’m here because I’m a nice guy and willing to overlook what a colossal ass you are, but if you insult my baby again I will leave you on the side of the road.”

“I thought Dean was the bad guy,” Charlie whispered, leaning in to Hannah.

Cas gave her a look that told her to shut the hell up.

“I’m sure in his version of events I am,” Dean said as he walked over to the truck and started to release the chains.

“My ‘version’ of events?  Right, of course.  There’s always two versions of everything.  The way Dean sees the world and reality.”

Dean just gave him a mild look and continued working.  Everyone looked back and forth between the mechanic and his fuming ex.  Dean put the van in neutral, and then hooked it up to the chains and got it lifted onto its two back wheels.

“You guys can get in the truck, you know,” Dean said.

The group less Cas bolted for the van.  Gabriel, Kali, Balthazar, and Samandriel all crammed into the back seat.  Hannah and Charlie sat up front, but squished against the passenger side door leaving the only spot available for Cas as the one next to Dean.  He rolled his eyes and climbed in.  It wasn’t a big deal.  He could sit next to Dean for ten minutes.  He wouldn’t even have to look at him, which would help.  As long he didn’t have to—

Cas closed his eyes and groaned inwardly as Dean slid in next to him and he smelled exactly the same.  A mixture of deep forest and warm hearth and a hint of sugar.  Dean had called him crazy when Cas had told him that’s what he thought he smelled like.  He claimed he smelled like engine grease and Taco Bell, but even if that was true, the memory of his scent still stirred in Cas happy and comforting memories.  And maybe a dash of arousal.

Dean slid completely into the cab and closed the door, his thigh pressing warm and solidly against Cas’.  Okay.  More than a dash of arousal.  But he still hated Dean’s guts.  He’d humiliated him and acted totally depraved.  Their relationship had been a damn lie and Cas still felt ill to his stomach when he was reminded of it.

Dean started the truck and they began driving.  One minute passed in silence.  Two minutes gone without incident.  After the fourth minute, Cas began to have hope that they would make it to the shop with nothing happening.

Just as minute five started, Gabriel spoke.  “So, Dean-o.  Why’d you break my baby bother’s heart?”

Cas closed his eyes, mortification setting.  Someone in the back hissed Gabriel’s name, but no one spoke saying Dean shouldn’t answer.  In fact, everyone seemed to be crowding in closer to hear better.

“Well, if I did it was unintentional.  I kind of always viewed the end of our relationship as him breaking my heart.”

Cas turned and sputtered impotently.  Dean made a face and wiped some spittle off the side of his cheek.

“ _I_ broke _your_ heart?!  Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“Hey, man, you’re the one who walked away.”

“You!  You…you really think I could stay with you after that?!”

“What did he do?” Charlie squealed softly.  And then, “I’m sorry.  I’ve never made that noise before.”

Cas shook his head, tears stinging his eyes from the memory alone.  “Fine.  You all want to know?  He _fake proposed_ to me.  In front of his family, his friends, his goddamn frat brothers.  He got down on one knee and everything and made some stupid speech and then asked me to marry him and then essentially yelled out, ‘Psych!’  And laughed with everyone.  He said of course it was a joke.  That he didn’t even care about me that much.  That he never really had and—”

“Whoa, hey,” Dean interrupted.  “I never said that I never cared about you.  I never said that.”

“You still said that the proposal was fake!”

“Because you said no!  I was in front of literally everybody I knew, pouring my heart out to you, and you said no!  I was just trying to save face!”

“I did not say no!”

“You didn’t say anything!  For _two minutes_.  Do you have any idea how long two minutes is when everyone you know is watching you make a fool of yourself in front some cold-hearted bastard?  You just stared at me.  It was pretty apparent you were trying to find a way to turn me down without coming off like an ass to my family.  I just gave you the out you wanted.”

“I didn’t want out!” Cas shouted.  “I was surprised.  And confused.  Do you not remember for the entire month preceding that you talked nonstop about how stupid you thought marriage was and how you’d never do it?  I didn’t know you were being serious when you did it in front of everyone.  I thought it was some kind of weird joke.  And then you said it _was_ a joke.  It killed me that you made me the butt of your joke about how awful and stupid marriage is because you _knew_ how much I wanted to get married!”

“Exactly!  I was just throwing you off the scent so that it would be a huge, happy surprise!”

“Well, that was a really dumb way to go about it!”

“I realize that, thanks!”

Silence fell in the truck.  The sound of the wheels running over the pavement was the only thing that let everyone know they hadn’t somehow been sucked into a vacuum.  They reached minute nine and Dean turned off the highway to the road that led to Singer’s Auto Shop.

“So…” Charlie said softly.  “He wanted to marry you, and you wanted to marry him…”

She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.  No one else could either.

They arrived at the auto shop and Dean immediately set to work on releasing the van and getting it into the bay.  Then he got in the tow truck to drive it to its parking spot.  Everyone turned on Cas.

“Oh, my God, Cas,” Hannah said.  “Oh, my God.”

“Cassie, do not let your pride and hurt allow this misunderstanding to persist,” Balthazar said.

“This is fate,” Samandriel chimed in.

“There’s no such thing as fate,” Kali waved a dismissive hand.  “There’s just people having the ability to recognize a mistake and having the courage to correct it.”

“When the universe conspires to heal an old wound, it’s usually best to listen to it,” Charlie added softly.

Cas crossed his arms over his chest.  He looked at his brother.  “Do you have anything to add?” he asked with annoyance.

“Just that…you do what’s best for you.  If that means walking away from his stupid ass for not even attempting to explain anything to you, then do it.  It’s been four years.  People change.  People want different things.  If being able to feel a little better about the whole thing is all you get—all you want—out of this.  Then that’s enough.”

Everyone looked at Gabriel with a pleading expression for him to shut-up, but they couldn’t refute his words.  Cas put his hands in his pockets and looked at the grease stained floor.  Dean came back into the bay and paused as he saw everyone start looking down at the floor or up at the ceiling like they were totally preoccupied by anything but the fact that Dean and Cas and a huge pink elephant were crammed in the room with them.

“I’m…going to take a look at the van,” Dean said uneasily.

Dean walked over to the vehicle and popped the hood.  When he got the heavy metal cover propped up on a stand, he made a face.  He reached a hand in and jiggled something.  He looked back at the group.

“Okay, I can tell you right now this thing ain’t going anywhere tonight.”

“You looked at it for five seconds,” Balthazar complained.

“Yeah, and the coolant line is torn and the gasket doesn’t fit and is making it leak worse.  I can refill the coolant tank, and you may make it to the game, but you won’t make it home.  It needs a new hose and gasket.  It’s an easy fix, but this van is pretty old.  We don’t keep parts for it on hand and the scrap yard won’t be open until tomorrow at ten.”

“Can’t you just use parts from another car and make it work?” Cas asked.

“If I was doing it off the clock for a friend, sure.  But if it breaks down on you guys, we get sued and lose our accreditation.”

“What if we promise not to sue?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t promise that,” Kali said.

Dean gestured toward Kali with the rag he’d been using to wipe off his hands.  “But don’t despair.  You can leave the van here and I’ll get you guys a loaner.  It’s not pretty, but it’s sound.”

“It’s your van, Cas,” Charlie said.  “Your call.”

“No, they’re _my_ tickets,” Gabriel said, “and we are already running the risk of missing the first inning.  Dean, we’ll take the loaner and Castiel will come back for the van tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Dean left the garage and Cas turned away from the group.  Come back tomorrow and see Dean again?  He was still reeling from the conversation—shouting match—in the truck.  On the one hand, he hated Dean.  He’d stomped on his heart cruelly.  But on the other—that hadn’t really happened at all…?  Or had it?  If he’d been serious with his proposal, he had nothing to be angry at him for, did he?  Well, of course he did.  Right?

Dean pulled up to the front of the garage in a Ford Escape.  The group crowded toward it.

“There is no way seven people are fitting in that!” Kali said indignantly.  “Six will barely fit if we toss someone in the back!”

Dean shrugged and held out the keys.  “It’s all I have.  Sorry.”

Everyone grumbled and started talking logistics.  And then Cas said, “I’ll stay behind.”

Everyone stopped talking, and turned as one unit to look at him.

“It’s okay.  I’ll figure something out.  And I hate the Mets and the Royals anyway.”

“Blasphemer,” Samandriel whispered softly.

“Welp.  That’s good enough for me!”  Gabriel grabbed the keys out of Dean’s hand and jumped into the driver’s seat.  Everyone else piled in, but Charlie lingered back enough to rub his arm.

“Good luck,” she said, and then stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

The group’s friendly arguing could be heard outside the car even with the doors shut, and Gabriel took off while people were still putting on seatbelts.  He drove to the end of the gravel parking lot, took a left, and then gunned it back to the highway leaving Dean and Cas in a small dust cloud.

Cas licked his lips and stared at the disappearing taillights.  He was too scared to look at Dean.

“Your girlfriend is cute,” Dean said, voice flat.

“Lesbian,” he said.

“Oh.  Your lesbian is cute.”

Cas turned his head and gave him a look.  Dean smiled and shrugged.  They both stuck their hands in their pockets and looked at the ground.

“So, how’ve you been?” Dean asked.

“Good.  Good.  Got my Masters in Art History.  I work as an assistant curator at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.”

“That’s great.  Exactly what you wanted.  A stepping stone on your way to the MoMA.”

Cas shrugged, a faint blush on his cheeks caused by Dean remembering his silly life goals.  “How about you?”

“I’m good.  Because of the part-time thing, it took me another two years to finish my bachelor’s degree.  But I just got my MBA.  So I can help Bobby manage the shop.  And we’re looking into expanding to do restorations.”

Cas smiled.  “Exactly what you wanted,” he echoed Dean’s words.

Silence descended again.  It was kind of stupid to be standing outside in the freezing cold catching up with an ex-boyfriend who he had hated up until about ten minutes ago.  He struggled to think of something to say.

“So, _do_ you have a girlfriend?” Dean asked.  “Or a boyfriend?”

“No.  Not currently,” Cas said quietly, his insides feeling weird over the sudden change in topic.

“Did you—have you dated anyone since…”

Cas waited for him to finish his sentence.  He didn’t.

“I tried a couple of times.  Hannah, the brunette who just left, she and I tried to date for a few weeks.  But it kind of felt like kissing my sister.  So, we’re just friends.”

“Ah.”

“You?” Cas asked just to be polite because he didn’t want to know if Dean was happily married to someone else by now.

“No.  I haven’t dated anyone since.”

Cas looked at him, startled.  “At all?  In four years?”  He remembered Dean’s appetite for sex being quite voracious.  And remembering that made him blush again and look away.

“Well…I never _dated_ anyone.”

“Ah.  Right.  ‘Cruise the bars.’”

“You know I never did that while we were together.”

“Yeah, I do.”

The gravel crunched and Cas stiffened as he realized Dean was moving closer.

“Cas, I’m sorry I made you think that I thought our relationship was a joke.  I didn’t think that.  I was just so wrapped up in this idea that we’d have a funny story to tell about our engagement that I never stopped to think about how awful I was actually being to you.”

Cas managed to look at Dean’s shoes, which was rather brave on his part he felt.

“Thank you for explaining it to me.  It’s good to know the truth even if it doesn’t change anything.  And I’m sorry I just stared at you.  I wanted to say yes, so badly, but I was just so afraid that it was a cruel joke because of the things you’d said…”

“I know.  I was an idiot.  I just…I’m in love with you.”

Cas snapped his head up.  “What?”

“I mean.  I _was_ in love with you.  Then.”  He emphasized his point by moving his pointer finger in a small arc to the left.

“Right.  Right.”

Cas found himself looking into Dean’s eyes for the first time that night.  For the first time in four years.  They stood in the horrible yellow light of a sodium light bulb, but Cas could still see the clear green he’d been captivated by once.  The eyes he could have stared into for hours on end and would have done just that if Dean had ever not lost his patience and just wound up kissing him senseless.

Dean took another hesitant step closer, bringing him near enough that his hand brushed Cas’.  His pinky finger nudged Cas' pinky finger.

“So.  Do you still hate my guts?”

“No.”  The reply came instantly to his lips, and Cas knew it wasn’t a lie.

“Well.  That’s good.”  He hooked his pinky with Cas’.

“Yeah, that’s very good.”

Cas’ heart beat faster and faster as Dean took his hand and raised it slowly, holding onto his fingers and putting his knuckles centimeters from those full lips he could practically feel on his even after four years.  Dean’s eyes were focused on his hand, which gave Cas the strength to speak his thoughts.

“Do you…”  Cas swallowed.  “Do you think it would be…I mean.  Do you think it would be okay if we…do you want to try, maybe going out some time?  Try dating again?”

“Cas, we can date if you want to, just…”  He looked up and met Cas’ eyes.  “Just tell me you’ll marry me.”

Cas’ breath hitched and he tightened his fingers around Dean’s.  He didn’t need to think about this answer either to know what he really wanted.  He nodded.

“Yes.  Yes.”

Dean closed his eyes and pressed a light kiss to Cas’ knuckles.  When he opened them again, Cas was smiling and fighting tears.

“Yes!”  He leapt forward and wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck, and the man laughed softly as he pulled him into a tight embrace.

“You know,” Dean said, his voice muffled where he spoke against Cas’ shoulder.  “I can’t tell if this is the best or worst engagement story ever.”


End file.
